Schloss Zizenhausen

Schloss Zizenhausen stands in the small village of Zizenhausen, part of the town of Stockach in Baden-Württemberg. The village itself began as a modest collection of buildings in the 15th century, growing slowly until the late 18th century. At that time, it consisted only of a farm, a mill, a brickworks and an ironworks built in 1697. The transformation began when Carl Anton von Krafft, an official in the nearby Landgraviate of Nellenburg, bought the estate in 1781. He set about industrialising the place and soon commissioned the building of a grand residence. The new house was constructed from 1785 onwards as a late-baroque palace of three storeys, arranged in seven by three window bays under a tall hipped roof. A small bell tower and a triangular pediment with a clock face give the building its distinctive silhouette. After 1840 the property passed to the Freiherr von Buol-Berenberg family, who used the estate mainly as a summer home. In 1962 the palace was officially recognised as a protected monument. Today the building serves as the village’s town hall. Inside, visitors can see a display of Zizenhausen terracottas, small clay figures made in a local workshop during the 19th century. The palace is surrounded by outbuildings and the remains of a once larger park. The quiet setting and the restrained elegance of the architecture make it a place where history and everyday life still meet.